Gardening

[Stephanie]

I thought it would be fun to have a thread where we can share gardening tips, talk about things we are planting, etc.
my husband and I want to grow our own veggies and maybe some herbs as well. We have a patio/porch where we can have flower pots but the whole area is shaded all day.
Has anyone had any luck planting anything that grows well in the shade?

[Travis]

You don't need sun. A lightbulb(s) is sufficient. I can't recommend which type of light is the best bit you don't need anything too fancy. Just make sure i will give the light you need amd is eneegy efficient. Internet is full of help for that. My sil actually grows all her vegwtables in a spare bedroom on like the 32 floor of her Chicago apartment. All hydroponic. All a homemade setup

[Cherie]

Does your shady area get any direct sun at all?

You could grow lettuce and spinach and salad stuff in pots or even in bags of potting soil with the tops cut out but most vegetables require at least a few hours of direct sun. If you are home all day, you might be able to follow the sun with larger, mobile pots for tomatoes.

[Bella]

We have huge, covered patio and parts of it where we have trees along the edges get about zero direct sunlight. So we grow lettuce in these shallow, box planters. I think, though, that they still need a certain amount of "warmth" to grow- I think the soil temperature needs to hit 60's or 70's. We change the soil out every year because of nutrients and bugs- I don't want to have to treat the soil with pesticides.

[Stephanie]

No sun at all on the patio :( it does get humid here in the spring and summer though so it stays pretty warm here :) we talked about possibly doing one of those topsy turvy things for tomatoes.
Thanks all for the ideas :)

[Bella]

Stephanie wrote: "No sun at all on the patio :( it does get humid here in the spring and summer though so it stays pretty warm here :) we talked about possibly doing one of those topsy turvy things for tomatoes.
Th..."

We got one of those topsy turvy things once as an experiment- we got really bad hornworms one year. (Our neighbors are stupid- they've had the same tomato plant for like 5 years and it's infested. The wife showed me some tomatoes once and I told her they had mosaic virus and needed to be thrown out, but the husband is too cheap to buy a new plant. Um..the reduced yield is probably costing him more than a few plants)

Anyway, I think we got two plants in the topsy-turvy. Which is good because even in "good" sun, the plants never got as big. Go to a garden center and ask them what variety to plant- we had an area that got too much sun and they told us try the heatwave and a Hawaiian variety and we actually got tomatoes that didn't split and rot. I wouldn't go with heirloom varieties because those are usually low yield. (Except for these one purple cherry tomatoes we got once.)

[Bella]

Oh, and we got our first roses last month. I've really got to get back in the yard and cut the roses back. And our hummingbird is back- he/she is so cute. It hovers by our doors and looks in the house- it has its own human aquarium.

[Stephanie]

Thank you, Bella!!!

Love hummingbirds! I miss our bird feeder. Our current place says they aren't allowed even though several apartments have feeders up.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Last year I had to take off our 3 bird feeders because of the squirrels. The poor birds couldn't eat a single seed!

[Joan]

We filled in our inground pool last fall, so we now have a big, flat wasteland. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I am not good at imagining how to beautify space.

[Travis]

Joan wrote: "We filled in our inground pool last fall, so we now have a big, flat wasteland. I'm feeling overwhelmed. I am not good at imagining how to beautify space."


Startbwith a gazebo or outdoor kitchen

[Rusalka, Moderator]

So cleared the veggie patch and repaired the fence and some walls and got rid of all the dead plants (thanks housesitters) yesterday.

This is just the veggie patch area of our garden, our block is pretty huge, but gives you guys some idea. Still need to plant out now (got cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, spinach, bok choy, onions, garlic, leeks and parsnips to go in, as well as nasturtiums and such) and those berries need a good prune back. But getting there. And gardening is so much more fun with friends!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

oh and I forgot beans, peas and broad beans... I need a bigger garden!

[Janice, Moderator]

I'll come visit you after the harvest. I'll be your taste tester. :)

[Kristie, Moderator]

I wish I could garden. I'm just not very good at it. I can start plants, but I never make it to a full harvest. I'm hoping to try again in the next couple of years.

[Mariab]

0_O